Astrology News Service » Astrological Association of Great Britainhttp://astrologynewsservice.com
Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:15:21 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1Distractions Don’t Bother This Astrologerhttp://astrologynewsservice.com/news/distractions-dont-bother-this-astrologer/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/distractions-dont-bother-this-astrologer/#commentsThu, 04 Dec 2014 12:18:20 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=1675To see things more clearly, French astrologer Andre Barbault says he often shuts himself away “in a remote, faraway place where you can’t guess what’s going on in the world around you.”

At these times his only connection to reality are the astronomical ephemerides he uses to track cyclical events.

“I had to rid myself of illusions,” the 93-year-old mundane astrologer explains in describing the ascetic regimen he follows when predicting worldly happenings years – and sometimes decades – in advance.

Mundane astrology deals with predicting worldly events based on planetary patterns. Ephemerides provide both past and future records for where planets have been and where they’re going to be in the future as their cyclical journeys through the astrological signs of the zodiac unfold.

Barbault acknowledges that his monastic methods and sole reliance on the celestial position of the planets at any given time is “the ultimate high-risk strategy.”

But it appears to work for him.

“Andre Barbault’s uncompromising rigor has revealed remarkable connections between planetary cycles and world events that he published years ahead of time for more than 40 years in L’astrologue magazine,” says Roy Gillett, president of The Astrological Association of Great Britain.

Gillett says several of the planetary configurations the French astrologer studied, alongside narratives of how the mundane events actually unfolded, can be read in English for the first time in “The Value of Astrology,” a new book published in 2014 by The Astrological Association.

Those looking for evidence of connections between astrological symbolism and earthly events will find in the book a number of convincing studies to consider, Gillett says.

For example, Barbault describes the remarkable frequency of armistice and peace negotiations occurring when Venus and Jupiter come together in the heavens to form the aspect astrologers call a conjunction. In this configuration, which marks the end of one cycle and beginning of the next, both planets appear to occupy the same degree of the astrological sign they are transiting or passing through.

Venus is well established in astrological lore as the planet of love, peace and harmony and Jupiter is identified with optimism and expansion. Traditionally, these planets are known as benefics. Together they would be expected to have a positive effect on efforts to resolve or settle issues contested by warring sides in a dispute.

It takes slightly more than a year for fast moving Venus to overtake and pass slow-moving Jupiter in the zodiac. However, because Venus travels so quickly through the astrological signs, the window of opportunity this conjunction creates doesn’t remain open very long.

The aspect is in play for only a few days in every calendar year. However, Barbault notes that an uncanny number of cease fires and armistice agreements have coincided with these dates in the past, far more than would be expected by chance.

Included in this group is the ceasefire that ended the 2014 Palestinian/Israeli conflict in Gaza.

Barbault was introduced to astrology by his elder brother Armand when he was 14 years old. He founded “L’Astrologue” magazine in 1968 and is the author of 50 books.

More than a year before Stalin’s death in 1953 he used a study of the Saturn/Neptune cycle to predict a major transformation of the Soviet system. At the height of the Cold War he predicted that the Americans and Russians, representing capitalist and communist principles, are “two runners at the end of a race with its final destination in 1988-1989.”

At the end of the race Barbault predicted the world would renew itself and give birth to a new society. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev did his part by introducing the twin policies of glasnost (openness and transparency) and perestroika (restructuring) in the late 1980s.

But even new societies can hit speed bumps along the way. Decades in advance, Barbault said he feared the possibility of a world financial crisis building to 2010.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/distractions-dont-bother-this-astrologer/feed/0Is Wikipedia Concept Fatally Flawed?http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/is-wikipedia-concept-fatally-flawed/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/is-wikipedia-concept-fatally-flawed/#commentsWed, 30 Oct 2013 18:56:24 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=1361The online information resource relied upon by millions the world over has shut down more than 250 editing accounts and is apparently targeting many others as part of an ongoing investigation into “suspicious edits and sock puppetry” on the Wikipedia website.

In a public report, Wikipedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner said the organization aims to protect Wikipedia pages against paid or non-neutral editing. Sock puppetry refers to phony or bogus online identities that are being used for the purpose of deception or obfuscation (a sock puppet is like a glove puppet except a sock is used).

According to Gardner, the increase in paid edits on the Wikipedia website is reflected in the apparent success of services like Wiki-PR, which bills itself as “Wikipedia writers for hire.” The group charges a flat fee to create a client page and a monthly maintenance fee to make certain the page is protected 24 hours a day against any marauding editor who might be inspired to anonymously attack the page with the intent of twisting or trashing whatever its message might be.

Robert Currey, a British astrologer who has edited Wikipedia pages, isn’t optimistic that Gardner’s plans to shut down editing accounts will have much impact on sock puppetry practices.

“If an account is blocked it’s possible to reopen a new account with another name. If due to persistent problems an IP address is blocked, it’s possible to change the IP address or get a dynamic IP that changes automatically,” he says.

But Wikipedia’s problems are much larger than phony IP addresses, Currey believes.

“When so-called fringe topics like astrology, the paranormal or alternative medicine are involved, the business of creating and editing Wikipedia pages morphs into a clandestine enterprise where nothing is as it seems. Interested visitors to so-called fringe pages find content that has been creatively edited by a resolute band of editors working in collusion with new editors (known as meatpuppets) recruited to help push their point of view.”

Ostensibly supported in this activity by organized skeptics groups, biased editors anonymously patrol, edit and delete Wiki pages not to their liking. Under the cloak of anonymity, they make thousands of edits every year, routinely bending or breaking every Wikipedia rule dealing with neutrality or conflict-of-interest along the way.

When non-aligned editors challenge these edits they have been ridiculed, intimidated and pushed into being banned in a mock trial, Currey said.

How far organized skeptics are willing to go to sway public opinion is captured in a recruitment video posted online. Entitled “Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia,” the video reveals a campaign that actively seeks to demote competing viewpoints and denigrate opponents.

“Essentially, the Wikipedia model is a busted flush. It looks brilliant but has a very serious flaw that it cannot remove without overhauling the system,” he believes.

Roy Gillett is President of the Astrological Association of Great Britain and thinks Wikipedia is “a wonderful service to the world that I am happy to use for many areas of research. But when it comes to astrology it is appallingly incomplete and misleading.

“This is not because colleagues have failed to submit scholarly researched information, but because editors controlling the process have voted to reject this information, or have enforced critical omissions of information by not allowing links to in-depth studies from credible sources,” he says.

Correlation is an academic journal published by the Astrological Association. Since 1969, the journal has critically studied astrological truth claims and has published articles describing statistical research projects, including studies that are critical of astrology.

But information seekers on Wikipedia astrology pages have been denied an opportunity to consider relevant results published in this peer-reviewed journal because the results don’t support the beliefs of organized skeptics.

“It seems strange to me and my colleagues that, in the end, it all comes down to a vote of editors who, as far as anyone knows, have no interest in astrology. Quasi-scientific interest groups organize and come mob-handed, not in the interest of truth but of their opinion,” he said.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/is-wikipedia-concept-fatally-flawed/feed/0Can Astrology Bring You A Baby?http://astrologynewsservice.com/newsmaker-interviews/can-astrology-bring-you-a-baby/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/newsmaker-interviews/can-astrology-bring-you-a-baby/#commentsSat, 15 Dec 2012 20:49:54 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=1149An online program designed to help medical professionals swiftly identify optimal dates for fertility treatments based on astrological indications may be coming soon to a clinic near you.

Astrologer Pat Harris, PhD, reports that a system based on ground-breaking research she completed for her doctorate thesis at the University of Southampton, UK, is in the early development stage. The research, titled Applications of Astrology to Health Psychology: Astrological Factors and Fertility Treatment Outcomes, successfully demonstrated that certain angular relationships of Venus and Jupiter to planets in a woman’s natal birth chart can identify those years in a woman’s life when she is more likely to bear children.

The research makes it easier for interested patients and clinicians to incorporate astrology into fertility treatment plans. Women can now find optimal dates for successful conception – with or without assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Dr. Harris is Editor of Correlations, a journal published by the Astrological Association of Great Britain (AA). She also earned a masters degree in health psychology from the University of Southampton, and has been a consulting astrologer for more than 30 years.

“I have clients who have been with me for more than 20 years who keep returning for life management advice. Some would ask if they would marry and have children and when this would be. I used traditional astrology to locate the years when there was a strong likelihood of these events happening in their lives.

“Astrology didn’t let me down as I had considerable success with these forecasts for natural conceptions,” she said.

Dr. Harris says a decision to look at astrology and fertility treatment outcomes was made because the treatment process is stressful and invasive as well as being expensive. And because the rate of success is poor – only one in four in the UK.

“If a new method could be found to reduce the number of treatments needed to succeed this would be invaluable in every way to women who hope to have children through assisted reproductive technology,” she added.

In an interview with the Astrology News Service (ANS) Dr. Harris provided the following insights:

ANS: Can astrology bring you a baby?

Dr. Harris: Based on my research I believe the answer to this question is a very clear yes. Clinicians may wish to consider use of astrology to select dates for embryo implantation because of its potential to increase the likelihood of a successful outcome. However, it is very important that the patient understands that astrological indicators do not guarantee success. My research shows only that attempts to conceive during optimal times have an increased likelihood of success (the birth of a live baby) compared with attempts made when the indicators are not present. It should also be made clear to patients that the absence of favorable astrological indicators means only that the chances of succeeding may be lower and does not portend a failed outcome.

ANS: When and how was your research carried out?

Dr. Harris: Between 2000 and 2002 I collected data from woman volunteers in the U.S., Australia and the UK who had undergone fertility treatment and were willing to let me explore their outcomes. I looked at the volunteers’ birth charts and the dates at which they underwent embryo transfers, including IVF (in vitro fertilization); ICSI (intra-cytoplasm sperm injection); IUI (donor insemination); and other forms of treatment, such as GIFT (gamete intra-fallopian transfer) and ZIFT (zygote intra-fallopian transfer).

For the study I used a very sophisticated statistical model called logistic regression. With this model, different variables can be considered together to see if any of them might account for the apparent significance of another. With this model I was able to consider many different variables like age, belief in astrology, location of clinic, experience of depression, levels of anxiety and reproductive health problems together with astrology to see if any of them had an impact on any significant finding regarding astrology and treatment outcome.

The first exploratory study looked at 114 treatments and found that astrology, clinic location, and family history (reproductive health problems) all had significant associations with success and failure of outcome.

Between 2003 and 2005 I gathered new data from women patients attending to National Health Service (NHS) clinics and one private clinic for a replication study that was intended to test only the factors found to be significant in the first exploratory test. In the second study I examined 55 treatments and ran the model developed for the first study. This time, only astrology was significant with a 94 percent likelihood the result was not a chance finding.

ANS: What astrological methods did you use?

Dr. Harris: I developed the astrological model by referring to authors such as Ptolemy and William Lilly (17th century), who had described particular associations of astrology with times in a woman’s life when she was likely to have children. Using these and other sources for information on ancient astro-fertility associations I divided the 114 treatments from my exploratory group into two treatment outcome groups: successes (resulting in the birth of a live baby), and fails (a live birth not achieved). I checked the astrology for each group using the women’s birth charts and time of embryo transfers. To be determined was the absence or presence of astrological transits or secondary progressions that, traditionally, are believed to be present when children are born.

By carefully assessing the differences in each group I was able to build up a picture of a collection of astrological contacts that were significantly more likely to be present at embryo transfers for a successful outcome compared with embryo transfers that resulted in failure.

ANS: What are transits and secondary progressions?

Dr. Harris: An astrological birth chart (or natal chart) is a map of planetary positions in the sky at the time, date and place of birth for any individual. But the birth chart isn’t static; it continually evolves or progresses over time.

As they orbit the sun transiting planets form new stressful and/or helpful alignments with the planetary placements in an individual’s birth chart. In the fertility study, the only significant transits observed involved transiting Jupiter aligned with or conjoined with either natal sun or natal Jupiter in the birth chart.

To find secondary progressions astrologers advance planets in the natal chart using a day-for-a-year formula. Simply, in the progressed horoscope, planets in the natal chart are advanced the exact number of degrees they have actually traveled in a single day, either forwards or backwards. For example, to find out how far planets have symbolically progressed by age 30 the astrologer counts forward 30 days from the date of birth and casts a new chart for that day using the time and coordinates for the place of birth for the original birth chart.

Progressed planets can form new angular relationships with either natal or progressed planets in an individual’s birth chart. In the fertility study a number of progressed alignments were significant when fertility treatment was carried out during the windows of time when these astrological progressions and/or transits were active. These included:

Progressed sun and Venus making exact contact (a conjunction) within six months each side of the date when the contact became exact in the year or years being forecast..

Progressed moon making exact contact with natal Venus within two weeks on each side of the date when the contact became exact in the year or years being forecast.

Progressed Jupiter making contact with natal sun, moon, Venus or Jupiter. Or Jupiter contacting the major angles (ascendant ad midheaven) of the chart – all within three months on either side of the date when the contact became exact in the year or years being forecast.

Progressed ascendant or midheaven making exact contact with Jupiter and Venus within six months on each side of the date when the contact became exact in the year or years being forecast.

ANS: What can we take away from your fertility study?

Dr. Harris: The research did not directly confirm ancient writings on fertility indications in astrology. But it did clearly support the association of Venus and Jupiter with fertility and an increased likelihood of having children.

My original research increased the likelihood of a successful outcome when fertility treatment was timed to coincide with my researched astro-fertility windows by 10 percent when the birth time was known to within half an hour and 14 percent when the exact birth time was known. Continuing research with new data has enabled me to increase that percentage to 21 percent and 23 percent respectively.

ANS: What does the future hold?

Dr. Harris: I’m currently working on additional data and with alternative healthcare professionals with the objective of further improving the model and its effectiveness as a diagnostic tool. Importantly, the data I’ve continued to collect in my practice has supported the original study findings.